Overview

The 2024 Iran Attack On Israel, also known as the Iran 300 Drones and Missiles Attack On Israel, refers to a large-scale drone and missile attack on Israel from Iran that occurred in mid-April 2024 amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. On April 13th, 2024, media outlets reported the offensive occurred in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria. The Iranian military then launched 300 projectiles, including around 170 drones and over 120 ballistic missiles, toward Israel in retaliation but a reported "99 percent" of them were intercepted by Israel’s aerial defense. In October 2024 Iran launched another massive missile attack toward Israel, with media outlets reporting more than 180 missiles shot. The news sparked a viral debate on the internet, as well as a notable amount of dark humor jokes and WW3 memes about the air strike, among other reactions.

Background

On April 1st, 2024, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building belonging to Iran's embassy in Damascus, Syria, according to Iranian state media. The CBS Evening News official YouTube^[1] channel posted a video that same day explaining the incident (shown below), amassing more than 80,000 views and 736 likes in two weeks.

A day after the strike, On April 2nd, 2024, Iran^[2] vowed to retaliate after it accused Israel of bombing its embassy complex.

Developments

2024 Iran 300 Drones and Missiles Attack On Israel

On April 12th, 2024, BBC^[3] reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met members of his war cabinet amid the Iran warnings of an airstrike. The post (shown below, left) garnered over 810 likes and 420 retweets in two days. On April 13th, several social media users and media outlets reported Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles towards Israel.

For example, X^[4] user @spectatorindex stated that a series of attacks over Israeli airspace occurred that same day, which amassed more than 52,000 likes and 15,000 retweets in a day (shown below, right).

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attacks in a press conference on April 13th, 2024, saying "Whoever hurts us, we will hurt him." Netanyahu's response was posted on YouTube^[5] by @markets, amassing roughly 15,000 views and 213 likes in a day (seen below).

October 2024 Missile Attack On Israel

On October 1st, 2024, several major news outlets reported that Iran launched at leas 180 missiles^[14] toward Israel in what they alleged was a "response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others – potentially taking the region closer to a wider conflict," as CNN^[12] described.

Images and footage of the missiles were widely spread on the internet. For instance, on October 1st, 2024, Israel's official X^[13] account posted a video showing some missiles flying across the night sky above a city in the country (seen below), writing that "Every single one of these rockets is meant to kill." The post garnered over 10 million views and 19,000 likes in a few hours.

Online Reactions

Throughout the days after Iran's attack on Israel on April 13th, 2024, many different celebrities and government figures across the world voiced their support for Israel, among other sentiments.

On April 14th, United States President Joe Biden met with G7 leaders amid fears of a wider war in the Middle East. Biden spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister and said the U.S. would not participate in Israel’s response to Iran, as the @TODAY^[6] news report explained. The video (shown below) amassed more than 73,000 views and 1,200 likes in a day.

Also on April 14th, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged all sides to show restraint, saying, "We are counting on the regional states to solve the existing problems with political and diplomatic means," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The Times of India YouTube^[7] channel posted a video with Russia's full quote that same day (since deleted), amassing over 719,000 views and 6,800 likes in a day.

Netizens also voiced their support for either Israel or Iran, with many responses using AI art to express their thoughts on the conflict. For example, on April 14th, X^[8] user @jacksonhinklle posted AI art featuring a lion with its fur covered by Iran's flag ripping Israel's flag on the ground (shown below, left), which amassed more than 129,000 likes and 15,000 retweets in a day. (shown below, left)

On the same day, X^[9] user @AviKaner posted an AI art created by Matthew Morgenstern featuring Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi alongside other men riding missiles. The post (shown below, right) received roughly 60 likes and 20 retweets in a day.

Numerous memes referencing the offensive, particularly about the possibility of World War III, appeared on platforms like Reddit in mid-April 2024. For example, on April 13th, Redditor Ryan_G0sling posted an Oh That's Real Nice meme to the /r/dankmemes^[10] subreddit, receiving over 6,700 upvotes and 270 comments in 48 hours (seen below, left).

On April 15th, Redditor xxx posted a Hey Little Man Hows It Goin? meme to /r/dankmemes,^[11] which received over 7,000 upvotes and 200 comments in roughly nine hours (seen below, right).

Search Interest

External References